At The End of The World Reviewed By Michelle Kaye Malsbury of Bookpleasures.com

Michelle Kaye Malsbury

Reviewer Michelle Kaye Malsbury:
Michelle was born in Champaign, IL. Currently, she resides in Asheville, NC
and is in her second year of doctoral studies at Nova Southeastern
University in Ft. Lauderdale with specialization/concentration in
conflict resolution and peace studies. She has over six hundred
articles published on the web and one book published thus far with
many more in the wings. Hobbies include; reading, writing, music, and
playing with her Australian Cattle Dog, Abu.

Lawrence Millman, author
of At The End of The World, has penned fifteen prior books.
(2018, inside back cover) He is a self-professed lover of all things
Northern and a savorer of mushrooms. He resides in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.

This book opens up in
Canada’s Hudson Bay in 1941, but moves forward to today. Millman
flew from Boston to Montreal and onward to Kuujuarapik located in
Northern Quebec, then on to the Belcher Islands located on Eastern
Hudson Bay to speak to and learn about the Iniut’s. Millman takes
his notebooks and pencils instead of his laptop to write down his
thoughts and adventures in learning about 1941. There was a murder,
but what precipitated that to occur?

Millman describes the
Inuit and their white visitors, the qallunaat as he endeavors to gain
the trust and learn the story behind this murder. History, what
little there is of it for this remote locale, helps him to discover
what times were like back then. Definitely not easy to tease out of
the people who reside there.

The Inuit have a language
all their own. It is called Inuktitut. Supposedly the movie Nanook of
the North was about a man from this remote area by the name of Peter.
It was set out to be a documentary, but all of the film footage was
lost. Peter was the best hunter and ice navigator and the tallest man
in these parts. Thus he got a lot of respect from the Inuit people.
He believed he was God.

Millman describes the
weather as “…wind whistling at 50-60 mph. …Such windstorms ,
blowing west to east, can last for days, occasionally even weeks in
Hudson Bay.” (2018, p.22) Millman’s tent is flattened, but he
manages to resurrect it.

The Inuit have three sky
dwellers; thunder, rain, and lightning. “The thunder maker was
called Kadlu or Big Noise, lightning named Kweetoo or She Who Strikes
Fire, and rain was relegated to Ignirtoq or She Who Pisses a Lot.”
(2018, p.28)

It was generally
acceptable to believe that certain Inuit people could raise the dead.
They were called Angakut. Some believed they were Jesus Christ too.
Back in 1924 Ouyerack stated such on Baffin Island. He believed that
the only way his followers could get to heaven was to starve
themselves to death. (paraphrase, 2018, p.30) Ouyerack took the name
of Neakoteah and he threatened to kill anyone who refused to starve
themselves to death for his heaven. After a period of time
someone shot him and he died.

There were many customs
they (the Inuit) adopted and several were contrary to reality as we
know it. For examples, it was accepted once Peter stated it was fact
that the sled dogs were Satan. As such they were slain. Another
fantastical belief was that hair was hold them back from flying and
reaching heaven so they shaved their heads.

This book was fascinating
from a variety of perspectives and it was based on a true story. I
enjoyed it and I believe you will too!